Man inside the Monster
by sr.michaelbucket
Summary: They, the beasts of the world, were all something before they turned, weather that something was close to the monster or something completely different. Sometimes, stories entwine, fates meet, and monster meets monster. Common ground could be found like a battle to find one's true self, or enemies may be made. (I'd add another game but I couldn't find the Jeff the Killer games.)
1. Chapter 1

Good-bye's said to his wife were not as warm as they used to be. She use to have so much love for him and loath over seeing him leave for work for the week. He worked the night shift and saw his wife and daughter very little until Sunday, which was his only day of peace. Mark suspected that his wife had been spending time with another man, but... He couldn't blame her. She needed something of him that Mark could no longer provide. He missed the days he spent with his family, just relaxing while watching a movie on television. Now... Well, now there was a void in his being. A divorce was expected soon, then a custody hearing over their daughter. For now, Mark just grabbed his things and left his family for the week, it seemed. His wife waved him off and his daughter gave him a big hug. At least one of them still loved him.

As he cranked his car, his daughter walked out into the yard and waved to him as he pulled out of his driveway. Mark waved back to her with a smile, rolling down his window. "See you soon, baby," he called to her.

* * *

Street lights flashed past him, shining off his black Ford Mustang. His eyes, bright green, looked as through they were focused on the road, but his mind was elsewhere. He thought of his family, his life, he thought of it all disappearing and himself left with nothing. His wife was a powerful figure in the community and he was just the man that married her. He was very quiet and kept out of his wife's social life to help boost her image. When they were at a party, she stuck with him to insure she looked like a happy woman, in a happy marriage. If anyone were to expose her cheating, Mark would be blamed for not spending enough time with her, opposed to her being a slut or whore. She'd be loathed over with words like "You pour thing" and "He must have been awful to you." The street lights seemed to dim. He was alone in the blackness... Until there was a flash of white light and his car was sent tumbling. His head hit the window, then the windshield. Then, there was black...

* * *

"Get him into the van..." Once voice echoed. "Move! We need to get him on life support or this all goes to hell!"

* * *

Mark opened his eyes. The lighting was dim, at first, but he could see the bandages over his arms and around his head. His right arm felt incredibly sore like he'd been stabbed with something. Glass, perhaps, from the windows of his car. Everything seemed so... dampened. He could hardly remember anything besides lights and that one deep voice. In a sudden flash, Mark was blinded. The lights came alive and cast a harsh burning glow on the room he was in. It was round, dome like. The floor was concrete and there were no visible windows. A voice rang out over a radio of sorts. It came from the shadows. Mark stood up, walking, staggering, rather, to where it had come from. He peered into the black and saw a small, flashing green light. He reached for it, taking it into his hands and pulling the object into the light. It was, in fact, a radio and smothered in blood. Mark looked down where he'd found the radio and waited for his eyes to adjust. What he saw then, horrified him.

A man, in army uniform, it seemed, lay dead... Disemboweled. His intestines lay strewn around his body and his heart was yanked from his chest and God knows where. The lungs were ripped open right up to the windpipe. Mark scurried away, eyes wide with terror and disgust. He began to empty his stomach of whatever he'd eaten prior. "Freeze!" screamed a voice from the shadows. Mark stood stone still. Another man in soldier uniform stumbled out into the light. Mark's head began to ache. His eyes felt as though they were being forced to close as a white light, it seemed, invaded his mind.

* * *

_The creature's body seemed to morph. His limps stretched to incredible lengths and he stood a staggering eight feet tall. Much taller than the soldier who was only 6'5". His face was consumed by this white sheet of skin, as was the rest of his body. His fingers became long and boney. He let out a blood-curdling screech from the bottom of his throat. It was inhuman, it was an abomination made worse was long, black tentacles burst from his back and whipped around in an attempt to grab the soldier. The man was able to dodge the one but another coiled around his foot and hoisted him into the air, lifting him above the monster's head. The skin across the lower part of the beastie's head parted, slowly ripping away at the white sheep of skin. A long tongue jutted out from over the rows upon rows of fangs and dragged itself over the soldier's skin. When the teeth sunk into the soldier's flesh, into his face, his screams were cut to an abrupt stop._

* * *

_AN~ Okay, this is probably going to need some explanation. I have read many Slender man and Jeff the Killer stories and I have to say, I was not happy with the way they where written. Most were written by people who could hardly speak a word of English, and I can't blame them for it; they did very good considering how hard it must have been to translate for them, and the rest of the fics I read were just bad. Bad story, bad writing. New writers, those who hadn't been writing for very long are kind of hard to fallow for me, so I decided to make my own story. I swear to you I looked up everything I could get my hands on for slender man and I know the story of Jeff the Killer very well. I know that people aren't just born Faceless, eight feet tall with tentacles growing out of their back. I needed a better story than what was provided for me. There needed to be a man behind the monster. A man with a life, with a family. Something more than just a creature who stalks little children in the night. _


	2. Chapter 2

Mark sat in the foliage, hands shaking before his face as the trees blurred around him in one swirling mass. The woods were so loud, the rustle of the leaves, the pattering of the animals and the rain. Mark was sent into waves of agony and shaking with spasms over and over that sent him to the mud. His cloths were tattered and consumed in muck and grime. Plants clung to him and mud covered his brown hair. His glasses were nowhere to be found. Then... Silence. The sun broke the horizon and halted all Mark's pains. Within Minutes, he was able to discover where he was. He was in the backwoods near his place of work. He could find a taxi and take a ride home. Mark bolted to the end of the footpath into the industry parking lot. Men and women, both known and strangers to him, glared at him as if they had just seen God himself in all his glory, though there was no glory in the way Mark appeared. As he hoped, a Taxi driver, just as shocked by him as the other people, agreed to take him home after he offered to take Mark to the hospital. Upon his house coming into view, Mark stopped the cab driver a few houses away. His daughter was in the yard, hiding behind the oak tree they had. A strange man stepped out of a black convertible. He embraces Mark's wife, Maggie, and kissed her for what seemed like forever.

He had known it was true, but seeing it unfold before him felt surreal. He shook his head and backed away, just as he'd reached the drive. He would have quietly walked away, but his daughter had seen him... "Daddy!" she squealed, running from the yard to him. Mark hugged her, but his eyes stayed locked on his wife. She turned slowly to look at him and so did the other man. The other man tilted his head.

"'Daddy'? I thought you said her father died years ago," he said. Maggie was speechless. Mark stepped onto the lawn, face going blank. He was good at 'poker faces.'

"Are you serious? She's a politician. She's good at lying. It's in her job description, even. Not as good as she thinks though..." Mark looked at his wife, letting go of his daughter's hand and walking up to the stunned woman. "I knew about him all this time... I saw the messages on your phone when you left it in my car. I saw the pictures, the videos. I knew you were cheating but forcing our daughter... _My _daughter to keep it from me. Threatening her! I was going to get you when you least expected, which I planned to be weeks from now on that date you planned with him, but hay! I got you just as good, didn't I?"

"What happened to your cloths... and your hair?"

"I was in a car wreck and kidnapped! I woke up in this dome and was attacked by guys with guns! They knocked me out and I woke up again in the woods, in the mud! Guess what else: We're getting a divorce and I'm taking Hailey!" Maggie's shocked expression shifted to that of anger.

"No! You're not taking my daughter!"

"Yes, I am! You aren't going to use her like you did with me!" Mark looked to the other man who had begun to back away from her as well as Mark was. "If you're smart, you'll leave." He nodded and walked quickly to his car, starting it and pulling out. He sped out of the neighborhood, leaving just the broken family in the wake of their own total destruction. "I never thought it'd end this way, Maggie. But I'm **not** sorry." Mark picked up his daughter and walked out of the yard. He took one last look at his wife, face still as blank as it had been before. "I'll be back for my, and Hailey's, things tomorrow. Don't get your hopes up. She won't be with me." He turned again and began the long trudge to Main Street, where he could get another taxi and, perhaps, take his daughter to his mother's house. She'd take Hailey and the woman knew better than to show Sympathy for Mark's soon-to-be ex-wife.

* * *

"Marquis, dear, what happened to you?" the elderly woman in her late fifties asked frantically, messing with her son's hair and taking long moments to examine the rips in his suit. Mark gave a sheepish grin and let his face finally relax, showing the only expression he could show, relieved-exhaustion.

"It's a long story, Mom, but Maggie and I are getting a Divorce and Hailey and I need to stay here until I find us a new living arrangement." Mark let his daughter run upstairs to the guest room before he spoke again. "I found out she was cheating on me last month, the fucking whore, but I didn't want to say anything so soon. I was going to wait to get her on a date her and the other guy were going on next week, Wednesday." His mother shook her head and gave him a tender pat on the cheek.

"Sweet Child, you should have gotten her right then. It never would have ended like this. Did the other man get into a fight with you?" She tugged at Mark's torn red tie.

"No, Mom. I was in a Car wreck, but I'm okay. I just need a change of cloths." Marks mother gave a soft smile.

"I know you're okay. You'll be okay where ever you go and with what ever you do. I never worried about you and I know everything will be alright. You made the right choice. You always do."


	3. Chapter 3

Mark awoke on the couch, shirtless with just a pair of old jogging pants to cover his lower body. He ran a stiff hand through his hair with a yawn, and he looked up to the stairs. His daughter's voice carried from the guest room to the loft, then down the stairs and finally to the living room where her father could listen to her sweet voice. Mark stood and made his way up the stairs. When he came upon his daughter, she was watching television, laughing at everything the little character on the screen did. He smiled at her and leaned in the doorway for quite some time before she noticed him. "Daddy, daddy, guess what!" She said, running up to him. Mark picked her up and hugged her.

"What?" He asked.

"I saw a Octopus outside my window last night! He was white and had long black tenti-poles" Mark laughed.

"You mean 'Tentacles.'" He corrected her. "I think you were dreaming sweetie." Hailey shook her head and ran over to the nightstand. She grabbed a small notepad and the pencil that rested on it fell onto the carpet. Mark bent to pick it up and when he looked up again, his daughter's drawing was in his face. It was a stick figure with long scribbled tentacles sprouting from his back. The most disturbing part about the drawing was the fact that it had no face at all. "Uhh... I think you forgot the eyes... And the mouth." Hailey shook her head again.

"No," She said, "He didn't have any." Mark chuckled, hiding his worry behind a soft smile.

"Wow... That's some Octopus," He coughed, picking her up again and walking downstairs with her. "I think I'll cook pancakes this morning for you and Grandma, how about that?" Hailey squealed with delight, clapping her hands and chanting over and over 'Pancakes, pancakes.' At the bottom of the stairs, Mark put his daughter down and let her run into the dining room. His mother waited for him and, as soon as Hailey was out of his line of sight, he dropped the smile.

"Are the neighbors a little... off? Drinkers, perhaps? Like throwing those weird parties with the multicolored body suits? Glow sticks?"

"What? Mark are you serious? Everyone around this neighborhood is elder, like myself. They're nice people too, very quiet. Why do you ask something so ridiculous?"

"Well, Hailey said she saw an 'octopus' outside her window last night." Mark was still holding the notepad, "She drew this picture of it." His mother examined the drawing and laughed.

"Marquis, she's a little girl! You're paranoid, dearie. Children are entitled to active imaginations. Why, when you were her age, you told me there was a talking raccoon in your closet and he told you to take my make up an paint all over your father's car. Oh, how mad he was when he saw my lipstick and eyeliner on the paint and leather seats." She laughed and patted mark on the shoulder. "Now, sweetie, I think she wants her pancakes. She's gotten louder." Mark sighed and accepted his mother's explanation, walking into the kitchen after her. He might as well calm down.

* * *

_Maggie looked at the men around her. Every time she tried to get up, or change the subject, the sat her back down and put her back on track. "Where is he?" They asked over and over, never actually specifying who 'he' was. _

_"Who?" she finally asked. _

_"You know who!" One man screamed. _

_"No, I don't!"_

_"Marquis Brooklyn! You're husband! Where is he?"_

_"I don't know. He came up to the house yesterday all muddy and his clothes were horribly tattered. He said he wanted a divorce and took our daughter I have no idea where he went!"_

_"Does he have any relatives nearby? Siblings, cousins?"_

_"His mom lives in Montgomery." _

* * *

Hailey swirled her pancakes in the syrup until they were soggy in the sweet sap. Mark ate the rest of his sausage and just watched his daughter as she made strange noises and ate one full pancake in one bite. "Woah! Slow down, honey! You'll choke. Eat smaller bites." Mark took her empty cup, "I'll get you some milk to wash that down, okay?" Hailey nodded and waited for her father to return with the beverage. When it was handed to her, she drank the entire cup. "Hailey! Why on earth are you eating like this?"

"I like pancakes, Daddy!"

"That's no reason to eat like that. Have some manners, sweetie." Mark took his and his mother's plates and put them in the sink. Once Hailey had finished devouring her own food, he took her plate too and washed the dishes with some help from his enthusiastic baby girl.

* * *

Hailey brought her father flowers and pine cones from the back yard as he sat on the porch, looking out on the woods. She found some buttercups and made him a small bouquet. Her smiling face and hair shining in the sun as she plotted around the grass, bundles of flowers in her arms, made Mark smiling wider than he ever had. For that moment, that small moment, everything was perfect...

* * *

_AN~ Thanks for the reviews and kind feedback. I try very hard and want to make this story my best. Any suggestions, if anyone has any, will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. _


	4. Chapter 4

The innocence of a young girl such as Hailey was unmatched by any. She sat on the guestroom floor, dolls and toy horses strewn about. Mark watched her play with the biggest grin on his face. After a while, Hailey stopped. She looked to her father and beckoned him over with a a silent extending of her hand. He gracefully accepted and sat down with her, watching her play with her toys. She never asked her father to play. She just wanted him to feel included, which made Mark positive she was going to be a wonderful woman when she grew older. She never just left one doll out of her play, or one horse from her play herds. She included them all.

The little dolls and horses that Hailey played with were never Barbie, or Bratz. Those dolls made girls think themselves imperfect. Mark's mother made his daughter all the little dolls herself. They had button eyes and silk or polyester dresses. The horses were made of stuffing, leather, and real horse fur. It was a Native American tradition that the woman kept alive. You could never tell when looking at Mark or his family that they had Native background. Their Irish blocked it out. Hailey had _his_ dark brown hair and green eyes, with _his _jawline. The only thing she seemed to get from her mother were the x-chromosomes.

As Mark watched his little girl play, he remembered a darker in his life. A time when he was angry, in pain. When His life had reached a rather deep hole. He had wondered endlessly why he married Maggie, why he wasted his time being just another accessory for her to haul around when she needed him and to leave him put away when she didn't. Then, he was reminded, as he daughter came home from school one day, a colorful paper in her arms. She showed him with a big smile. "_Look, Daddy,_ _look!_" She urged him. When he finally looked away from his mountains upon mountains of papers, he saw a bundle of pictures of himself and his daughter, cut out in heart shapes and glued to a red peace of paper. It was then that he remembered why he put up with it all, why he still stood tall in the shadow of his wife. Hailey was reason. She was his reason for working, his reason for smiling, his reason for loving, and his reason for living. She made him laugh and she made him cry joyful tears on every close call. She wasn't just the thing that made his heart beat, she _was _his heart beat. Living without her would be impossible and he didn't dare think of the future when he had to give her away to a boy who he knew was never going to be good enough for her.

But, when he did, he thought of her dressed like a princess in a white ballgown, hair pulled up like Cinderella's. Then he thought of them dancing together in a ballroom, everyone watching, as he bid his daughter a final good-bye before her new life of wonder and promise. He smiling face, so beautiful and grown up. His mind flashed to a memory of her standing on his toes in a little ballet outfit. She held his hands as they spun and waltzed all over the living room. Her smile so big and her eyes wide with wonder, locked with his.

When Mark was brought back to reality, his daughter was holding his hand, but her face wasn't smiling. He saw it for but a second, then she screamed, though he didn't know what she was screaming _at_. In one moment, Mark was yanked to his feet, strong hands gripping his forearms and dragging him just a little way before he began to struggle. One of the men had stayed behind to deal with Hailey. He struck one of them with his foot and ended up pulling away, taking the man by his shoulders and tossing him against the back wall. Mark hugged his daughter for just a moment before they came after him. He was the only thing between them and her. He stared at them with eyes that screamed a dare to come any closer to her. One of them read this, and slowed the others, stopping in the doorway.

He understood. "Now, I think we can make a deal here," he said with little falter, "If you come with us very calmly, and without hurting anyone like before, we'll leave her alone."

"Before?" Mark questioned.

"He can't remember," another whispered. The one who seemed to be calling the shots took a step into the room

"Never mind that," he said, "We just need to ask you some questions. We'll leave her here with... Who was it...? Your mother?"

"My wife sent you didn't she?" Mark barked, "Didn't she?!"

"She just told us where you were. We just-"

"You just nothing! No one is taking Hailey from me! No one is going to touch her!" Grotesque sounds of shifting bones accompanied the shocking sight of Mark's sudden disfigurement. That white sheet of skin stretched down over his facial features, hiding them with just little indents where they used to be. His legs grew and grew until his head was pressed against the ceiling. His white dress shirt's buttons snapped one by one, the sleeves tearing away. His pants stretched as well, tearing at the legs. That spine-splitting screech broke from the monster's belly, frightening Hailey and sending the child running and hiding under the bed. Just upon seeing this thing, the men attacked with knives, aiming for non-vital areas, obviously not trying to kill this thing. This thing, an amazing creature of overwhelming, superhuman strength, killed off five in just seconds with one whip of it's brutish tentacles.

One brave soldier lunged forward, blind-sighting the creature. They tumbled out of the window, landing hard on the walkway below. The man was killed, taking a bite to the face. The something pierced it's arm. Looking to it's shoulder, the creature found a large syringe penetrating through him. Before it could be pulled out, another came from the other direction. Then another. Darkness overwhelmed it, causing it to saunter around as though it were a drunken barfly in a stupa. With one last yelp, heavied by sleep, the creature feel, body shifting back to the man trapped within.

* * *

_Mark's mother rushed into the guest room. "Hailey! Hailey!" She called out. The little girl dragged herself out, hugging her grandmother. _

_"Daddy's the octopus..." _

* * *

_AN~ I thought that putting some of my own 'fatherly thoughts and dreams' into the fic might help the story and boost Mark's character. Mark's fathering is based off of my own, and Hailey's entire character (Aside from her looks) is based off of my own daughter, Emerald Ivy.  
_


	5. Chapter 5: Jeff

Red and blue flashed in his eyes, casting light shafts through the rows upon rows of towering trees. Voices screamed out, one calling orders and others commanding the dogs which raced after the blood-soaked man. He wore a white hoodie, since stained with dry blood and whatever else God may name. His black pants were blanketed with muck and coal black hair so matted that days may be taken if he ever tried to brush it out. He glanced back behind him at the animals on his heels, glaring at the nearest creature who snapped their jaws at the man's aching legs. He pulled a knife, already stained, from his hoodie pocket and lashed out at it. The dog tumbled to the dirt, whimpering helplessly. It wouldn't die. The man never meant to kill any animals. Animals gave so little satisfaction. They didn't beg for help or struggle to wrench his hands from their neck before he stabbed them over and over.

His snow white skin was covered with mud, filthy water, and briar thorns. This man's name was Jeff. Ever since he was fourteen, Jeff had been killing, causing pain, horrifying the world over. Everyone from California to China knew about him and the incredible, inhuman body count that trailed in his wake. So many had claimed him some sort of government conspiracy, saying it was a cover up for a federal hit program, but his was anything but. He wasn't some complicated plot to kill a chosen few. He was a mad man. Hos brain was either a mess or completely gone, sanity wise and he killed not just a few. He killed all he deemed unworthy of life, which were either teenagers or adults. He very rarely killed children which just went to show that he wasn't completely out of it. Jeff was also smart enough to evade the cops for ten years. He lived this way by but one rule: Be unpredictable. He had no pattern, no special way he held his knife, or cut up his victims. The only thing any of them ever had in common was something that no police man could track, nor something forensic scientists could analyze. It was the last words they ever heard before their heart stopped beating: "Go To sleep..." It was Jeff's trademark.

The man vaulted over a fallen try, sending a few dogs scrambling to climb it and others stopped upon seeing the block that their tired bodies would not allow them to over come. This left just three tired animals, far ahead of their uniformed masters, running after the acclaimed killer. Water sloshed under Jeff's feet and the mud at the riverbed ground his escape to a sudden halt. He was sinking! The dirt was swallowing him! He thought fast and dove under the raging water, pulling his feet from his shoes. In that instant, he was swept away, the roaring waters taking him with all their power, all their force. This was the fury of nature and maybe karma at work. Sediment in the waters burned Jeff's eyes and, to his misfortune, he couldn't close his eyes. He could never close his eyes. It was the only thing that Jeff regretted about his face. Eyelids would make things more comfortable.

A sudden shock racked through Jeff's body sending his blood running cold and black into his eyes as his consciousness retreated back into his broken mind. His eyes remained wide and lips cut into an ever present Cheshire grin as his body was swept away in the current, and out of the sight of his to-be-captors.

* * *

_AN~ Okay, now that Jeff is in the mix, the chapters will be clearly labeled "Jeff" or "Mark." You can guess what that means. If I forget to label a chapter, please remind me. I swear to you I'll forget XD. Oh, and to those of you who were waiting uneasily for Mark's story to continue (Redd, Harry, Miranda, ex.) Sorry :P _


	6. Chapter 6: Mark

Mark's head hung low, looking down at his tied feet. His hands were bound behind his chair and blood soaked his torn dress shirt. The men had made him watch the dash-cam videos over and over. They showed a faceless creature in _his _cloths. It was of a staggering size and had a grotesque mouth filled with shows of buzz-saw teeth. It's tongue reminded Mark of a milk snake. Upon seeing the tentacles slithering through the air, projecting out from the things back, a sickness grew within Mark. This was the "Octopus" Hailey had seen outside her window. That sickness became a disease when the tranquilizers, meant for elephants, believe it or not, finally seduced the monster into sleep and Mark took it's place in existing matter. "That's you..." Sargent Hammeth said for what seemed like the twentieth time. Mark, like all the other times it had been said, just shook his head, denying what he knew was the truth. But, a strange thought came to mind. He then looked at the frozen screen, the tape on pause. He took a long hard look at the tall, slender creature and it's incredible strength. The screen was stopped at a scene where one of its' tentacles had just collided with a soldier. Hammeth leaned on the table, getting so close to Mark that his tobacco breath nearly made the smaller man feint.

Mark gave a sudden lurch, growling like a rabid animal and baring his teeth. Hammeth jumped back against the adjacent wall with a slight shriek. Mark began to laugh hysterically. He didn't understand why... "Oh... Big army man scared of a little business man like me, eh?" Hammeth growled and stepped back up to the table.

"No..." he started, "It's _him _I'm scared of," He admitted, pointing to the screen. Mark smiled deviously, for one reason or another.

"Then why are you threatening me?"

* * *

_An~ Sorry for it being so short. I just wanted to show a transition in Mark's character. In real life, (Not on the internet for those of you who's lives ARE on the internet. {not me XD}) someone pointed out that there was an acclaimed Youtuber that they thought this was about until Mark's last name was mentioned. (Markiplier.) I am sooooooo sorry, but this is NOT about Markiplier, Redd. XD _


	7. Chapter 7: Mark

Hours gone by were hours Mark spent in uncertainty. His body never relaxed and sweat poured down his face. His eyes were red from dehydration. Never had the man had such an awful migraine. But, as expected, he never thought once about himself. He thought about his daughter. He thought about what they had to have done to her while he was being taken away. "Please," he begged himself. "Work with me. Just once. Help me..." His muscles bulged and back was making the strangest of slithering motions under the skin. His body was in a wild fit of spasms. Then, Mark egged it on as the white sheet began to take over his vision, but he didn't black out when it was complete. He locked in a strange kind of, 'thermal vision' without the 'thermal' part. The outlines of solid objects were a bright blue and everything else a blackish-blue. The ropes around his arms and legs snapped upon his shifting. The chair shattered and Mark stood up and stumbled a little, never being so tall. It was like being on stilts that were sewn into his legs. Looking over his shoulder, the man saw these bright blue wriggling shapes coming from his back. Those were the tentacles. They moved in strange ways, whipping about, but Mark had _some _control. He moved them rather lazily.

Looking back to where he had once been, Mark saw a small, empty coffee cup. Better to test his body control before trying to escape. Mark tried to swing the tentacle in an attempt to grab the cup, but instead he smashed the cup and split the metal table in half. He quickly pulled the appendage back, having it snap when it went back into its sheath. So much power. He'd... He'd never had... power before. He'd been the weak one, the voiceless, the tool made to be used. Now... Now he had the power to give to the world what he got. It was time for him to repay his 'debt.' With another powerful swing on his tentacle, the metal door smashed out into the hall, crushing two men into the wall, killing them, obviously. Before anyone could react to the colossal monster, Mark made a run for it, his long legs carrying him far faster than he could ever run on his own.

Suddenly, an armed footman came out from one of the rooms, reacting immediately to Mark. But, before just one bullet could penetrate his skin, though Mark braced for the wall to hit him in the face, Mark faded right _through _the wall! He came out much closer to a window, looking a lot like a... No, it couldn't have been. It... it was. It was a porthole! They were underwater! Mark would have gasped if he could, and if he wasn't blacking out.


	8. Chapter 8: Mark

The crick in his back was unbearable. It was like he'd slept on solid concrete all night. Upon opening his eyes, Mark saw that it was one worse. He was in a tree. One of the gargantuan ever-greens in his mother's front yard, even! Had... Had the monster taken Mark home? Did the monster have some sense of attraction towards things Mark established as familiar? Perhaps... the thing considered this place... home. Mark _had_ been here the longest since the accident. While shaking like a groom at the altar, Mark shimmied down the tree. His body had yet to steady itself, due to his fear of heights, before something tangled around his legs, fumbling him to the dirt. Mark's green eyes met some of the exact same, but the others were much more alive than his ever could be. "Octopus!" Screamed Hailey in a fit of joy. No matter how Mark looked, his daughter could care less. Yet, there was a sudden... ache in his being, deep in his body. It was angry. For some reason, this little part of his mind wanted... to hurt Hailey...

Though his daughter's smile was ever-present, Mark's face became deathly grave.

* * *

_"I know you're okay. You'll be okay where ever you go and with whatever you do. I never worried about you and I know everything will be alright. You made the right choice. You always do..."_

* * *

Mark cringed. "The right choice..." he mumbled under his breath.

"Marquis? Marquis!" Mark's mother rushed into the yard, hugging him and kissing him over and over. "Marquis what in the name of God _was _that? You've been gone weeks!"

"Weeks...? Never mind. Mom, circumstances have changed. I need to talk to you... alone." Hailey gave her father a curious look.

* * *

Mark's mother sobbed uncontrollably in her son's arms. "No, dear Lord, please don't take my baby away! He's always been a good, God fearing man! Don't take him from me!" Mark let her sob and wallow in her grief for a while longer. His own tears would not fall. He was too scared to feel sorrow. Taking his own life was a drastic step, but seeing what that monster could do, the things it _did _do were unimaginable, inhuman, and a danger, nay, a death sentence upon humanity. Tentacles that could snap a man in half, a body that could phase trough walls, a strange type of 'infrared vision,' scalpel-sharp talons, and bone-splitting jaw strength. This was most certainly the ultimate bio-weapon and it took Mark the longest time to realize, but, knowing how science worked, he couldn't have possibly been the first. The benefits and success of the beasts abilities were too perfected, even with some aggression flaws. Despite this, he had to admit, the United State's military had done something unbelievably incredible with his body and a bio-weapon such as this creature that resided in Mark would revolutionize war-fare forever. Yet, they would never learn from their mistakes.

Mark could allow his mother no more sobbing. He had to leave as soon as possible. He packed in a small book bag but a handgun and three bullets. God only knew what could go wrong. His mother, sobbing still, with his daughter so unaware of what was going on watched him from the doorway as he walked to his mother's pick up. That strong force again coiled around his legs and forced the terrified man to a halt. Tears could no longer be stopped by the fear of losing his life. They were drawn out by that innocent, happy flare in his daughter's eyes. They matched his perfectly, as did her hair, and her face, and he quietness, and sense of wonder. "Where are you going, Daddy?"

"... A-a-away for awhile, honey." Mark bent down to his daughter and kissed her softly on the forehead. She hugged him as his chin rested atop her head. "I'll be back soon..." As he pulled out of the driveway, Hailey waving to him from the yard, pain dug into so many old wounds and what he had said to Hailey was the worst of all. He used to say that to his daughter all the time, but stopped when he knew she realized that he didn't mean it. He wasn't coming back soon. He was _never _coming back...

* * *

_The forest spun around him, the trees blending with the grass and the clouds like a typhoon in the air. Agony ate at his bones and a dull, but persistent ache devoured his entire body. The gun, no matter what Mark tried, refused to fire. The swinging forest then, with a sudden silence, went still, save for the wind. The only light was the full moon. Growls at the back of his mind took him over completely. His fighting seemed in vein and the horrid head aches pushed him into the dirt many a time in full on spasms. "Fine..." Mark finally coughed, "You win... Take me..." Then it all faded to black, save for a pair of bright blue eyes that looked on from the treeline, not once blinking in the darkness; never able to close._

* * *

_AN~ Not what I wanted it to be, but, eh. _


End file.
